A German woman is being investigated by tax officials after hoarding more than €40,000 (£34,880) in loose change she gathered from public toilets.

The woman, who operates 50 toilets across Germany, paid cleaners minimal wages while pocketing the change they collected from the toilet floors and didn't declare the income.

But her policy looks to have backfired after it was reported that one of the cleaners tipped off the state prosecutor who launched a tax investigation.

When visited by police at her home in Bonn, Germany, the suspect resisted arrest before finally giving in. When she finally gave in police found her garage knee-deep in coins.

The bags of coins had to be loaded away by shovel into a 7.5 tonne truck.

Though the haul seems astounding, it is estimated that there is more than £42.9 million in loose change down the back of British sofas alone, with £385 million squirreled away in change jars.

Research from Halifax has found that there is an average £1.61 caught down each sofa in Britain, while figures from Money.co.uk show the nation's coin jars have an average of £24.54 in them each, making the toilet floor find look like small change.